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Don Sach's pre amp

I know these are custom made tube pre amps I am debating on getting one any audiogon members who have this pre amp can they give me a feed back on these /
128x128a_shah
piouser
12 posts
 
I can elaborate on Dons SP14 with his KT88. After months of swapping cables and tubes my conclusion is that with some minute changes you can improve on what is already a wonderful match.

Enjoy!
soix
2,133 posts
 
"Since I have had the privilege of having VTA-SP14 in my home for two weeks and also having listened to the Candela Pre-amp. I can tell you the build quality of this pre-amp is head and shoulder above the VTA-Sp 14 the sound quality . No match ! at least 50/60 % better."

Sorry but I can't figure out what you mean here.  Can you clarify which has better build quality and sound quality and maybe add what the specific improvements in sound are?  Would be most interesting and helpful.  Thanks!

kalali's avatar
kalali
1,645 posts
 

I think he’s comparing his newly acquired DS model 2 with the VTA and Candela and saying its got much better sound and build quality.

One lingering question; did DS also build the VTA-SP14 preamp before making his own brand? I'm still getting the relationship between the VTA and DS units. Sorry if I'm missing the obvious.

a_shah's avatar
a_shah OP
36 posts
 
@soix @kalali Yes between the three pre-amps I have heard in my home environment, I like Don Sach's 2 as the best of the 3  , again this is very subjective based on my listening tests and "ears"
Build Quality: better parts, point to point wiring , to me  DS 2 is very revealing, no brightness, realism in voices, vocals are good , bass is just about right ! do not hear any tube sloppiness sometimes you get with lower class pre amps,  very quite. However the unit is not cheap but considering the fact it competes with higher priced units and is  custom built  it is perhaps fairly priced at its price point . Hope that helps.
pryso
1,501 posts
 
kalail, I suspect Don is too busy to have time for much internet posting.  I think it is a one-man operation, other than building the cases.  So I'll share what I believe to be the development.

First off he has a long-standing reputation for restoring and upgrading classic tube gear such as HK Citation, McIntosh, Marantz, etc.  Somehow he had the opportunity to examine the circuit for the VTA-SP14 and was impressed by the potential.  But he felt it could be improved by selective parts upgrades.  So he ordered the board and built one to test.  Being satisfied with the initial results he then refined that and began offering his own version, with the blessing of VTA.  After all, they reference Don's version on their own site.

Since then it has been word-of-mouth promotion.  That's how I learned about it and I couldn't be more pleased with my DS2 SP-14.
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